The DIALAQ project on sustainable groundwater management: a transdisciplinary and transcultural approach to participatory foresight

• Groundwater governance is a major issue in many regions of the world today.
• Participatory foresight approaches can promote changes towards more sustainable environment management.
• The grassroots based research network involved partners ready to explore pathways for adaptation.
• Co-design resulted in a common methodological and ethical framework adaptable to the diversity of local situations.

In the past decades, groundwater over-exploitation has increased the vulnerability of users, social inequalities and environmental degradation. In this context, the DIALAQ project aimed to experiment and disseminate a participatory approach intended to strengthen stakeholders’ capacity to implement more sustainable agricultural and groundwater management. DIALAQ's network encompasses 8 regions in 4 countries (India, Morocco, France and the United States) including groups of farmers, administration's representatives, NGOs, elected representatives and researchers from several disciplines. A seed funding enabled cooperation between academics and non-academic partners that led to the consolidation of the network and enabled the design of the project. Firstly, a focused review of literature on participatory foresight exercises in the field of groundwater management is presented. Secondly, the challenges and pathways taken in designing the research is described. This process resulted in a common methodological and ethical framework presented in conclusion.